Brain cancer mobile case rejected

A major legal test of whether mobile phone use poses a health hazard has ended with a victory for the manufacturers.

US District Judge Catherine Blake dismissed the testimony in a key lawsuit, and scientific evidence offered by Maryland doctor Christopher Newman, who filed an $800m suit against Motorola alleging that its phone had caused his brain cancer.

According to news agency Reuters, Judge Blake said that her decision was based on the fact that the "reasoning, theories and methodology" of Newman's experts "had not gained general acceptance in the scientific community".

Numerous scientific and government reports have found no proof that mobile phones cause human brain cancer and the evidence offered to the contrary had not been replicated or otherwise validated, she added.

Federal rules require presented evidence to be relevant and reliable, making it possible for the judge to make a ruling dismissing Newman's expert evidence, which effectively destroyed his case.

The Cellular Telecommunications & Internet Association said that it and Motorola, Cingular Wireless, T-MobileUSA and Verizon Wireless, among others, now plan to file a motion to have the case dismissed in the wake of the judge's ruling.